IPOH: A medicine manufacturing factory at Jalan Kuala Kangsar has been destroyed in a fire here.

Perak Fire and Rescue Department director Sayani Saidon said they received an emergency call about the fire at about 10.25pm on Tuesday (March 19).

Sayani said 51 people, including firemen from the Simpang Pulai and Pasir Putih fire stations and volunteer firemen from Pekan Baru and Bercham were roped in to assist with the firefighting operation.

"After we arrived, we found a Class A building on fire, with damages that we estimated at about 80%.

"We learned that there are chemicals like chlorine and alcohol in the building and also suspected there to be a leakage," she said in a statement.

"The Hazardous Materials Unit (Hazmat) team was also mobilised to determine the leakage level and found the first reading at 100 PPM for ammonia.

"The operations commander did a size-up and instructed firemen to put out the fire," she added.

Sayani said the situation was controlled at about 11.15pm and ended at about 2.05am.

"We continued to spray water at the incident site to ensure the area is totally safe.

"A second reading was taken for ammonia and found it to be at 20 PPM, which then we declare it safe before ending the operation," she said.